4/19/11

Ok, so it turns out that the reason for the lack of motivation is because we're pregnant! This baby was a complete surprise and my little man is going to be a big brother. :) I'm slowly getting my sewing mojo back, I don't remember being this tired this early the first time around. LOL

I bought a couple of patterns off a seller on etsy, and I'm working on that today, my first day off in ages during the week. Baby steps (haha) but I feel that create tingle coming back and it feels great! We've set up a bigger work space for me, which is not totally set up but I'll figure out what works best for me. The last thing I want is to be surrounded by my stuff and not feel inspired. Hopefully soon I'll have it set up and be back to sewing like a madwoman. :)

1/27/11

I haven't disappeared! I've just had a whole bunch of changes in the past few months and it has taken a lot more time to adjust than I had hoped. I've been sewing but been extremely unmotivated in finishing or documenting. I'll have a random burst of energy but it's short lived. Booooo.

On the bright side, things are improving, little man is doing GREAT! He's talking so much more and he's SO funny! He has a excema that is triggered by apples. So he knows that he can't have anything apple related. Everyday I ask him how school was, what did he do, what was for lunch? And everyday he says with an adorable smile PIIIIIIINEAPPLE! I always pretend to be shocked or ask "WAIT a minute! Can little man eat apple??" and he replies "Nooooooo apples noooooo" very sing songy. He's a natural jokester. :)

I'll be back. I've got sewing needs and I have to eek (?) out time for myself to get my creativity back in the groove.

11/2/10

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! Little Man got to wear his costume THREE times this year. Ahhh, the perks of preschool :) The school had it's Fourth Annual Fall Festival and they had all sorts of games and fun things for the kids to do. We went for a bit and hopefully it's something we get to do every year that Little Man attends this school.

The friday before Halloween they had their class room party and we were responsible for cookies. I wanted to do something fun and different, and had come across this how to at HowDoesShe.com well, I just had to try it!

So first off, I had to pop off one side of the cookie, and LUCKILY, most came off easily. Those that broke, well, Little Man was more than willing to gobble those up. :)

I used white almond bark, for the mummies, which you can find at any grocery store and candy melts for the orange sprinkly ones. Originally I was going to draw spiders on them and sprinkle the bodies but the edible markers I found wouldn't mark on them. I suppose it works better on cookie icings, who knows, the label didn't say. ANYWAY, you dip your lollipop stick (I bought mine at Michaels) into the melted bark and gently press it into the creme and then GENTLY press the cookie top back on. You sort of have to do this quickly because the bark cools quickly or then you'll have to do it again because then the top won't stay on.

I popped those in the fridge for a few minutes to speed things along.

Checked my facebook....farm is okay....okay, time to dip!

I know that I won't be using the candy melts again. I knew better too, I had tried them on some cake pops once and one, they are way sweet, and two, hard to manipulate. But since I fail horribly at tinting the white bark, I decided to go with it. I had to smear, then spread, then smooth, then spread again blah blah blah. You get the idea. :) But they sure do look pretty don't they?

The mummies were much easier and smoother. The bark was so silky the cookies were covered in no time. I did worry that the cookies would leave bits in the bark, but nah, once they were dipped they were covered. I didn't find the black candy melts the site suggests, so I used chocolate chip. I squished them between my fingers a bit to flatten them, then dipped the pointed (now squished side) into some melted bark, and then place them on my mummies. So then I scooped my bark into a little ziploc, pushed all of the air out and then slid it all to one end so that I could snip off a corner to make my lines. Holding the snipped end with your thumb or up in the air, you twist your bag so that you have is nice little cone shape. (Sorry, no pics)

Warning! Depending on how hot you have it this could burn you. I've used bark so many times, it doesn't phase me, but I would suggest baking gloves. It'll be bulky, but you'll protect those fingers!

I did my zigzag lines quick and dirty, as you can see :)

Pop those in the fridge, but DON'T leave over night or for an extended time. They will start to sweat and that's not good. I did it for only a few minutes.

10/22/10

We finally got around to planting a tree in our backyard! It's been bare for quite sometime and we really needed the shade it will provide. We made the trek to both Lowe's and Home Depot looking for Root Stimulator, Soil Conditioner, buckets, shovels, tree food, and a bunch of other stuff I don't know the names to. I'll leave the gardening to my husband and his green thumb.

Who knew planting a tree required more than a hole, dirt and water? :)

The husband arranged his supplies and got to work while I entertained the Little Man. Our older kids weren't home and that tree was going to call it quits if we didn't get it in the ground so were on our own. I was itching to get my hands on a shovel, but I wasn't allowed to since I had on sandals.

How very convenient huh?

I can sew, green just ain't my thing.

Anyway, so I was untangling the darn water hose when I hear my husband calling out for me to turn around, but quiet enough for me to know Little Man was doing something I shouldn't miss OR interrupt!

Awww....my baby, he's so freaking smart. And STRONG! I love that he wanted to help and didn't give up even though it was heavy for him. We thought he deserved a dip in his kiddie pool as a reward* for being such a sweetheart for helping daddy.

Life is good. :)

*Yeah, about that. Mom here was having a panic attack at her kid holding that dirty, rusty, possibly very sharp shovel in his little baby hands that I bribed him with the pool to get him the heck out of there. Hello, my name is Paranoid. :)

10/17/10

I feel this huge relief now that I can finally share some REAL photos with you! This particular dress was one that had been sitting on the shelf for awhile. I knew that I wanted to make it using a onesie, but had no desire to shell out 10 bucks for a pack of onesies, when only one was needed. Of all places, Wally World came to the rescue. It turns out they sell single onesies, so no more excuses! I snatched up a white and pink and a little pair of lounge pants, I think it took me two days to finish. YAY me! My cousin had been wanting something girly, so I hope she loves this for baby Annabella as much as I loved making it.

Let's get to the good stuff shall we?

Make it and Love it has to be one of my FAVORITE websites. It's like, nonstop, everyday, a new something I have to make or bake! Well, it feels that way haha!

Well, since I was in such a crafty mood, I also tackled this shoe pattern I bought from Etsy seller Sweet Pea Patterns. I don't see the Angelina Ballerina listed right now, but there are plenty of other styles available. I am in LOVE with this shoe! Easy peasy pattern and I can't begin to describe the pride I feel for creating these tiny little babies.

Wow. My first shoes. Wow....

Here they are together.

Remember the pink onesie? I cut out some felt letters, used some Heat n Bond and then applied them to a circle I then appliqued to the front. Last minute I also appliqued a little heart to the booty of the lounge pants with a little zigzag stitch.

Lots of goodies, lots of fun. Happy can't begin to describe how I feel. :)

10/6/10

Well now, that was a break I didn't plan on happening. Funny how time passes so quickly. I kept telling myself tomorrow, I'll update tomorrow. That's almost a whole month of tomorrows YIKES!

Ok, so moving on. I uploaded some photos of projects I had finished up, but unfortunately they are cell phone pics. The good news is that all other projects I'm working on have been photographed with my Nikon. Yay! Cuz these cell phones pics are just so BLAH.

First up! I made a floor cushion for little man using this tutorial from Living With Punks. Go on, go check her out.......aha! You're hooked now aren't you? Did you get to peek at her recipes too? YUMMY! I used this dinosaur print I had been eyeballing for days at Hancock Fabrics (yes days, I'm there every chance I get haha). The floor cushion tutorial gave me an excuse to snatch it up and voila! Dino Seat for little man:

I definitely need to work on my piping skills. Overall it was really easy to follow and little man loves it, so it's a winner!

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Let's see, I also got to work on a couple of diaper covers using this tutorial from Dana at Made. I love her stuff, I have more than a few tutorials of hers I plan to tackle. I can't help how easy she makes it to follow her patterns.

Isn't she a beauty? I made her as soon as Dana posted her tutorial to go with a dress I had made using the Itty Bitty Dress pattern from Made By Rae.

CUTE! I sent this to my newest niece and I can't wait to see her in it!

Gosh, these pics really are horrible. The good news is that this is (hmmm, I just saw my foot in the pic above, glad my toes were painted!) most likely THE LAST post with cell phone pics. I won't lie, it's a bit embarassing, pic after pic, so grainy and the colors come out awful.

OK, back to our regular posting. I made another diaper cover, but this time with RUFFLES! Who doesn't love ruffles???

I made the ruffles using this tute from Char at Crap I've Made (funny, funny name) I used bias tape on the legs to hid the edges of the ruffles. I have plans to do this many more times, I didn't think cute could get any cuter!

The dress on the other hand, was a disaster. It was supposed to be another Itty Bitty Dress, but I cut wrong, then I was going to make it into a gathered skirt, but it was way too long. So I tried covering the waist with bias tape to make into a mini pillow case dress (?) BUT it didn't go over the little girls head. SO, I chopped off the top and made her an elastic waisted skirt. And it's adorable! Sorry, no pic. But trust me, it's a keeper.

And now, to end the torture, the last cell phone pic! hahaha! The Snappy Toddler Top from Prudent Baby is heaven. I picked up this fabric on a whim and it works great for this top.

This was my first attempt at buttonhole making, it was much easier than I thought.

I've got a GREAT little project in the works that I am really excited to show you the outcome. There are a few more things to finish up and then I'll let you in on the secret. ;)

9/7/10

There are so many things that I want to do, and not nearly enough time to do them.

I'm working on a dress for a friends daughter and I'm pretty much winging it! It started as a skirt, but once I realized it was way too long, I made some adjustments, and well, maybe it'll work out??

Let's see, I need to take better pictures of things I have finished. I am not happy with my cell phone pics. And after all that hard work, taking the time to take a decent picture is only the right thing to do. :)

I noticed my to do list has mostly girly things, I need to change that up! My daughter is past the age to use or want (or be excited about, lol) any of the things I want to make, and I ridiculously end up feeling guilty making for others and not my little man. The list needs more "BOY". Any suggestions? Anything goes folks!